A datacenter is a facility used to house a collection of computer servers and associated components, typically network hardware. The collection of computer servers is often called a “server cluster” or “server farm,” and is designed to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of a single machine. The networking hardware typically includes network switches and/or routers which enable communication between the different parts of the server farm and the users of the server farm. Datacenters are commonly used for cluster computing, web services, remote data storage, web hosting, and other web services. Datacenters are increasingly being used by enterprises instead of, or in addition to, mainframe computers. As the demand for datacenters continues to increase, a need exists to limit the cost of operating a datacenter and/or to maintain availability of datacenter computing resources.
Datacenters utilize a variety of servers and networking hardware. Often, multiple servers and/or networking hardware components are arranged in racks. In some cases, an individual component in a rack may warrant individual attention without disrupting operations of the other components in the rack. As such, some racks for datacenters have components such as servers and/or networking hardware mounted for sliding in and out of the rack so that the components can be individually accessed or serviced. In some scenarios, it may be desirable to maintain wired connections (e.g., for data or power) to the component while the component is being inspected or otherwise serviced. Cables that are sized to accommodate connection of the component when the tray is extended from the rack may be longer than needed when the tray is returned into the rack. This may result in unwieldy amounts of cable that may become entangled or get in the way of other components of the rack. Additionally, operators handling cables to remedy or avoid such tangling or obstruction may also risk inadvertently pulling cables out of connection points and causing disruptions in datacenter operations, which may be costly or otherwise problematic.